Dr. Rick Mandl - July 10, 2020
Forgiveness Is A Two-Way Street
Forgiveness Is A Two-Way Street
Friday July 10, 2020
Hey church family. One subject that I never get tired of talking about is FORGIVENESS. It’s something that all of us need to be receiving continually, because we all sin. And it’s something that all of us need to be giving out continually, because... Well, because in our dealings with one another, hurts are inevitable.
Jesus talked about the necessity of forgiveness with these words. In Matthew 6 He said, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you." And then the part in the verse that follows that we wish he had not said... "But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most widely read and respected poets of the Victorian period. In 1846, a romance between her, and fellow poet Robert Browning, led to their marriage and a move from England to Italy. Elizabeth’s father was not in favor of the marriage of his daughter or any of his other children for that matter. As a result he never spoke to Elizabeth again.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a prolific letter writer. She and Robert exchanged 574 letters during their courtship. Elizabeth continued to write her father regularly throughout her married life. Upon her father’s death a box was delivered to her home. When she opened it, she found all the letters she had written to her father. Every last one of them — unopened.
The story of that relationship between Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her father is sadly a story to which many can relate. It’s a story of disappointment. A story of control. It’s a story of lack of forgiveness.
When Jesus taught about forgiveness, he did so with total clarity. He taught that if we don’t forgive someone from our heart — releasing him or her from the resentment and judgment of our minds — we can’t be forgiven ourselves.
Maybe a better way of looking at it would be that if we don’t let go of the grudge we hold so tightly in our closed hands, our hands aren’t open to receive anything from God. May you and I be quick to forgive. Not out of fear, that if we don’t, God won’t forgive us. But out of the realization that God has forgiven us for things way worse than anything that we will ever have to forgive others.
Is there anyone in your life who you have not completely forgiven? Take the step to forgive them now.
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